There are a plurality of known methods for storage of data. The traditional technique of storing written information is to store text in printed products such as books and newspapers. There are, however, several drawbacks of storing text in book form. One of the drawbacks is that books require much space. To achieve storage requiring less space, documents have for a long time been stored on microfiche. For a high degree of compaction, however, it is necessary to use photographic films for such storage since ordinary paper has a strictly limited packing density. The storage alternatives to books which are advancing most rapidly are those based on the use of computers. A plurality of storage media for digital information are available. Examples of such storage media are RAM, magnetic media and optical media, such as optical discs. Another technique of storing information that can be read optically is bar codes which are used to a great extent in the retailing of everyday commodities when prices are included.
It is in some cases desirable to distribute text stored in a compact fashion. With computers, a user may need to be electronically connected with the distributor of the stored information. Alternatively, microfiche or magnetic or optical data storage media may not be as widely available.